Minivan driver gets 18 years for killing 3

A angkot (public minivan) driver has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for the murder of two children and an adult in Makassar, South Sulawesi, in September 2011.

The Makassar District Court pronounced 28-year-old Petrus Lewek guilty on Tuesday of violating the Criminal Code, Article 340 on premeditated murder.

Judges also said that Petrus breached Article 80, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code on violence against children and Article 354, Clause 1 on public assault.

Petrus murdered Saldi, 12, Junaedi, 15, and Syamsul, 66, in front of Makassar Town Square. He was also suspected of assaulting several other Makassar Town Square visitors.

The murders were reportedly the result of suppressed anger after Petrus’ motorcycle was vandalized at Makassar Town Square two weeks before the murders, kompas.com reported on Wednesday.(png/iwa)

Fugitive BLBI convict arrives to serve sentence

Very wanted person: Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) case convict Sherny Kojongian is rushed to a car through throngs of reporters before her handover to Indonesian authorities after her arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, west of Jakarta, on Wednesday. (JP/Fikri Z. Muhammadi)

The handover of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) convict Sherny Kojongian to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Wednesday morning finally took place after an initial delay (not cancelled as earlier reported).

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement was scheduled to hand over Sherny to the AGO at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Wednesday morning.

Although Sherny arrived in Jakarta at 8:10 a.m. on Garuda Indonesia GA 823, as of 9:30 a.m., there had been no word of her handover.

She was eventually escorted through the crowds by the police to a Toyota Innova, license plate number B1492WQ, supposedly headed for the AGO’s office. She wore sunglasses to cover her face.

Sherny, who fled Indonesia in 2002, was arrested in San Francisco on Nov. 10, 2010, after being red-flagged by Interpol in 2006.??

Sherny tried to fight her deportation, but the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her appeal.??

Sherny was found guilty of misusing BLBI funds along with her late husband Hendra Rahardja, a former chief commissioner of now-defunct Bank Harapan Santosa (BHS).??

The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Sherny in absentia to 20 years in prison on March 18, 2002, along with her son and then BHS commissioner Eko Edi Putranto, who remains at large.

Hendra was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he died in Australia in 2002.?The court ruled that Sherny and her family caused Rp 1.95 billion (US$206,700) in state losses. (fzm/iwa)

Handover of fugitive BLBI convict cancelled

The scheduled handover of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) convict Sherny Kojongian to the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) on Wednesday morning has been canceled.

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement was scheduled to hand over Sherny to the AGO at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Wednesday morning.

As of 9:30 a.m., an official statement had not been made on the reason for the cancellation.

Sherny, who fled Indonesia in 2002, was arrested in San Francisco on Nov. 10, 2010, after being red-flagged by Interpol in 2006.??

Sherny tried to fight her deportation, but the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her appeal.??

Sherny was found guilty of misusing BLBI funds along with her late husband Hendra Rahardja, a former chief commissioner of now-defunct Bank Harapan Santosa (BHS).??

The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Sherny in absentia to 20 years in prison on March 18, 2002, along with her son and then BHS commissioner Eko Edi Putranto, who remains at large.

Hendra was sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he died in Australia in 2002.?The court ruled that Sherny and her family caused Rp 1.95 billion (US$206,700) in state losses.(fzm)

Thief steals Rp 80m from car

A Blega district resident in Bangkalan regency, East Java, was eating out with his wife and a friend when they discovered that a thief had stolen Rp 80 million (US$8,467) from their car.

Maruli, 47, had left the money in his car because he thought it would be risky to walk around with that much cash on him and thought the money would be safer in his car.

The money was supposed to pay for construction at his village.

Maruli immediately reported the incident to the Bangkalan Police.

After examining Maruli's black Avanza, the police said that the suspect may have used a duplicate key to break into the car as there was no damage to the car’s windows or locks, kompas.com reported on Wednesday.(png/iwa)

Sanctions waiver smooths way for US-India talks

The United States is holding high-level talks on Wednesday aimed at boosting relations with India, a critical partner for US interests in Asia. But even as one obstacle to closer relations has been lifted, others stand in the way.

The threat of US sanctions against India for its large yet declining oil imports from Iran was lifted two days before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's meeting with India's foreign minister, S.M. Krishna, for an annual strategic dialogue in Washington.

But differences remain, particularly over India's reluctance to undertake economic reforms. Despite the fast growth in trade between the two countries, barriers to investment still frustrate US companies.

President Barack Obama visited India in late 2010 and declared that the US-India relationship would be a defining partnership of the 21st century. Both nations are concerned about managing China's rise, and security cooperation and defense sales have grown rapidly. Washington looks to New Delhi as a partner in the economic development of Afghanistan and wants India to play a more active role in training Afghan security forces as the US and its NATO allies plan to withdraw combat forces by 2014.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited India earlier this month, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will become the fifth Cabinet-level US official to do so this year when he travels there at the end of June.

"Our ties have never been stronger," Clinton said Tuesday. "We are working together like never before to build an open, free, transparent and fair economic system, to promote peace and prosperity in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific, to coordinate international responses to violent extremism and so much more."

This week's dialogue attests to the breadth of US-India cooperation, including on education, energy and climate change, science and technology, and health.

Growth in the partnership contrasts with deteriorating US relations with India's neighbor and rival Pakistan, which eyes the deepening ties with suspicion.

But India also has struggled to deliver on the kinds of economic reforms that Washington wants, changes that would provide more opportunities for US businesses. In November, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government backtracked on plans to allow foreign investment by such companies as Wal-Mart in its supermarket — or "multibrand" — retail sector after it ran into domestic opposition.

Tim Roemer, who served as US ambassador to India between 2009-2011, wrote in an opinion piece in The Washington Post last week that despite rising trade in goods and services — predicted to reach $100 billion this year, up fivefold from a decade ago — "too many US firms still find obstacles to doing business in India."

He complained that a 2008 civilian nuclear agreement has been altered so radically by India's parliament that US businesses may be frozen out of the market. The agreement, introduced by President George W. Bush's administration, allowed India access to technology from international suppliers it had been denied since it conducted its first nuclear test explosion in 1974. Roemer also wrote that US businesses are discouraged from competing for lucrative infrastructure projects.

Karl Inderfurth, a South Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said the US-India talks could boost investor confidence if the two governments make a concrete commitment to completing a bilateral investment treaty.

As well as economic ties, Inderfurth expected the US and India to discuss a raft of international issues, including support of democratic reforms in Myanmar and the future of Afghanistan. He said India will be looking for reassurance that the US will retain a substantial presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014 because of concerns for that country's stability as Western forces withdraw after a decade of fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

KPK loses track of Neneng: Chairman

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says it has lost track of Neneng Sri Wahyuni, a fugitive and wife of graft convict Muhammad Nazaruddin.

“Yes, we have lost track of her [Neneng],” KPK deputy chairman Busyro Muqoddas told journalists on the sidelines of the launch of the Korupedia website late on Tuesday.

He added, however, that Interpol was looking for her.

“Interpol has done a good job. As we all know, it just nabbed a fugitive of the BLBI [Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support program] case.”

Last week, Busyro hinted that Neneng could be in Malaysia.

Neneng, together with Nazaruddin, owns a company that has been implicated in a bribery case concerning a Manpower and Transmigration Ministry project.

Nazaruddin and Neneng both fled the country in May last year to avoid investigation.

Unlike Nazaruddin, who was arrested in Cartagena, Colombia, in August 2011, the last time Neneng was heard from was last month when she, through her lawyer, sent a letter to the KPK to negotiate her surrender.

The KPK has announced that it would not negotiate with Neneng. (iwa)

Former S’pore narcotics chief faces graft charges

Leonard Lim and Tham Yuen-C, Asia News Network (The Straits Times), Singapore | Wed, 06/13/2012 10:36 AM

Former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) chief Ng Boon Gay on Tuesday became the second senior public servant in a week to be charged with using his position to obtain sexual favors.

The 46-year-old is said to have had several trysts with Cecilia Sue Siew Nang, a sales manager seeking government contracts for two information technology vendors here on separate occasions.

His court appearance came days after former Singapore Civil Defense Force commissioner Peter Lim Sin Pang, 52, was charged with similar offences involving different women in a separate sex-for-contracts case.

The Straits Times understands that Ng's case centers on tender procurement for IT-related products. He is accused of obtaining sexual gratification to “further the business interest” of Hitachi Data Systems and Oracle Corporation Singapore.

Court documents indicated that Sue had allegedly performed oral sex on Ng four times between June and December last year.

During the first two alleged trysts, the 36-year-old Sue was a sales manager at Hitachi. She left around November to join Oracle as a senior sales manager.

If convicted, Ng could be jailed for up to five years or fined up to S$100,000 (US$77,887), or both, on each charge.

On Tuesday, his lawyers from WongPartnership said he intends to plead not guilty.

Senior Counsel Tan Chee Meng and Melanie Ho added in a media statement: “Personal indiscretions aside, Boon Gay firmly believes he is not a corrupt officer.”

In court, Tan asked for the case to be adjourned as he wanted the prosecution to clarify how Ng had allegedly helped the companies' business interests, and what those interests were. After receiving this information, the lawyers will consider whether to make further representations.

A spokesman for Oracle Corporation Singapore declined to comment, but it is believed Sue is still employed there.

A Hitachi Data Systems spokesman said the company was not aware that it was the subject of any investigations.

He added that if Sue had behaved inappropriately during her time with the company, none of its staff was aware of it or condoned it.

Ng had his bail set at S$10,000. He will next appear in court on June 26.

He was arrested on Dec. 19 last year amid allegations of “serious personal misconduct”, and later suspended on Jan. 25.

However, his family has maintained a strong show of support. On Tuesday, his wife, Yap Yen Yen, accompanied him to the Subordinate Courts along with his brother and sister. They arrived in a taxi at 8:50 a.m. (7:50 a.m. Jakarta time) with his lawyers from WongPartnership.

Yap, 44, stayed close to her husband, holding his arm and hand at times.

She later issued a statement through the lawyers, saying: “I have never doubted his professional integrity and will continue to stand by him.”

The Ngs' visible support was in stark contrast to the scene last week when Lim arrived at the court alone before being charged with 10 counts of corruption.

Lim is accused of obtaining sexual favors in exchange for helping three women further their business dealings. The alleged trysts are said to have taken place in public carparks, Lim's Costa Rhu condominium and once in a Paris hotel.

No locations were given for Ng's alleged encounters with Sue. The Ministry of Home Affairs said on Tuesday that she is no longer servicing the bureau's accounts.